1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to safety hoods of the type worn by workers in toxic or areas of contaminated air where there may be airborne particles, or even where hazardous vapors, acidic or the like may be present. In such environments, it is necessary to have a lightweight, inexpensive, air-impervious hood by which a worker in such contaminated areas may be supplied with breathable air and, wherein the safety hood is made of an air-impervious, synthetic material such as, one sold by DuPont Corporation, under the trademark TYVEK, for example. Preferably the hood should be wholly disposable. TYVEK is a material made available by DuPont and is a spun bonded polyolefin.
2. Description of the Related Art
Environmental concerns and regulations dictated by federal organizations such as, OSHA, make it mandatory for workers in hazardous vapor areas or where contaminants are in the ambient atmosphere as, for example, spray painting areas, chemical mixing areas, and the like, to have a supply of breathable air. The tack taken in the prior has been to have a safety hood or the like member with a visual lens that a worker may position over his or her head and, wherein a breathing tube air hose is connected to the hood and to a source of breathable air.
In the past, workers have had to discard the hood after a certain work period, and disassemble for example, the breathing tube from the hose, dispose of the hood and then, reassemble a new hood with the breathing tube so that work could continue either at the same shift or at a later shift, which could be the following day.
That is, the disposable hood portion would be discarded and a new hood associated with the breathing tube, which would then be utilized by the worker in a safe manner.
When the worker has had to disassociate for example, the breathing tube from the safety hood, a certain amount of cleaning is required should the end of the breathing tube be contaminated. In any event, the worker would have to disassociate the breathing tube from the disposable hood, which is usually held in place by a clamp or the like.
It can be readily seen that the aforedescribed procedure would not only be time-consuming, but would also involve a certain amount of possible cross-contamination, especially where a contaminated breathing tube is associated with a new hood.
Additionally, it has been found that the breathing tube or air hose when made of a conformable material tends to collapse upon itself. One aspect of the invention circumvents this problem.